Back to the compressor pedal...
Things are best tackled with a fresh mind on a new day is so true here. Took maybe 5 minutes for me to find the wiring error of having the tip and ring connections on the input jack swapped. A penalty for working in evening daylight I suppose.
Once the error was corrected the pedal was tested and on the audio quality front it passed admirably, but as a compressor ... Hmmm, maybe I'm a bit spoilt from previous experience with 'real' compressors as to my ears this little pedal was somewhat disappointing. After some messing around I worked out the variable gain section that is subject to the amount of light on the LDR worked quite well, however the LED and drive signal to the LED was far less than stellar. I swapped LED's with spares I have, changed to different coloured LED's, all with little tangible improvement. I concluded that maybe a high intensity LED is what is needed which halted work as I have none on hand.
In the photo you can see beside the IC the black sleeve I used between the LDR (Light Dependant Resistor) and the LED. Even with this arrangement the simple act of taking the back cover off the pedal housing has the effect of slightly reducing the gain through the device, enough change to be easily heard when listening to a strummed guitar and through a small practice amp, so limiting stray light into the LDR is important to the overall performance of the pedal.
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